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What is Holistic Massage?
Holistic massage uses a range of techniques to manipulate the soft tissues/muscles of the body for both local and overall effects. It is based on Swedish massage and is aimed at treating the whole person, working on physical and psychological levels to help bring about balance to mind, body and soul.
What are the benefits of holistic massage?
There are many benefits to holistic massage and these include improved skin tone and colour, better circulation, deeper more relaxed breathing, improved lymph drainage, relief to tired/stiff joints and muscles, speed up digestion and waste removal, reduction of stress and tension, relaxation of the mind, promote positive feelings and increased energy levels.
What happens during an appointment?
Prior to a treatment a consultation is carried out. After this you will be asked to undress to your underwear and lay on the treatment couch. There is no need to feel embarrassed as you will be covered with towels and only the area being worked on will be exposed. About half way through the session you will be asked to turn over so that I can work on the other side, unless you have opted for the back only session.
A full range of massage techniques will be used during the massage and these include effleurage (gentle sweeping movements), petrissage (firmer kneading/rubbing movements), friction and percussion.
At the end of the session you will be given a glass of water, home care advice and time to come round before leaving to get on with the rest of your day.
What is involved with the consultation?
When visiting for the first time a full consultation will be carried out, looking at medical history, life style and what you want to achieve from your treatment. This is a vital and totally confidential process to ensure that you receive the most from your visit and that there are no medical reasons to prevent the session going ahead. The process takes approximately 15 minutes and you are welcome to book this extra time at no extra cost. However, if time is limited treatment time will be adjusted to accommodate the consultation. Following visits will only require a couple of minutes to check that nothing has changed and to discuss results/reactions to the previous session.
What are the origins of Holistic Massage?
Massage has been around for thousands of years and has been recorded in ancient China from around 3000bc. The ancient Greeks included massage as part of the daily exercise and fitness regime and for the Romans massage was an essential part of a visit to the baths and this is still the case in Turkish Baths today.
Modern massage techniques are based on those used by Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839) who was a physiologist and fencing master from Sweden. He studied in China and then developed a system of movements for improving health and physical condition which became known as Swedish massage. Massage was used on soldiers during both world wars to treat nerve injury and for rehabilitation, however since then more mechanical ways of treatment was developed and massage began to fall out of fashion. In more recent years the benefit of massage has been rediscovered and is becoming more and more popular to treat a variety of ailments and for the relief of stress and tension. | 
